The Canadian Engineering Competition (CEC) was hosted by Ryerson University in Toronto, Ontario on March 8-11, 2018. Competitors from 15 participating schools participated in the weekend in a total of 8 different competitions.

The competitions held this year were: Junior Design, Senior Design, Innovative Design, Communications, Re-Engineering, Parliamentary Debate, Consulting, and new this year — Programming.

In Junior Design, teams were tasked with the challenge of prototyping a lightweight device capable of loading and unloading cargo from incoming ships at the Toronto Port quickly and safely.

The winners were:

Third place: University of Saskatchewan

Second place: Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières

First place: Dalhousie University

In Senior Design, teams had to build and program an arduino-powered fire-fighting robot, controlling it to put out fires by dispensing ping pong balls in buildings of varying heights.

The winners were:

Third place: Université du Québec à Rimouski

Second place: École Polytechnique

First place: Lakehead University

In Re-Engineering, teams are asked first to present the redesign of a technology of their choice. They were also required to prepare a second presentation on a theoretical design of either a durable but portable Ice Hut, or a piece of Personal Protective Equipment that is more comfortable and accommodating to movement.

The winners were:

Third place: University of Manitoba

Second place: University of Toronto

First place: Université de Sherbrooke

In Programming, teams are tasked to automatically select the positioning of a company’s fleet of mining robots in order to extract the most amount of ores while using the fewest resources.

The winners were:

Third place: Western University

Second place: University of New Brunswick – Fredericton

First place: University of Manitoba

In Engineering Consulting, teams were given the challenge of designing a 10-year project timeline for an Amazon competitor to set up a distribution network in the GTA.

The winners were:

Third place: University of Ottawa

Second place: McMaster University

First place: Université du Québec à Rimouski

The winners of Engineering Communications were:

Third place: University of Calgary

Second place: McGill University

First place: Macdonald Campus of McGill University

The winners of Innovative Design were:

Third place: Macdonald Campus of McGill University

Second place: University of Waterloo

First place: University of New Brunswick – Fredericton

The final round of Parliamentary Debate was showcased during the CEC Closing Gala, with a light-hearted topic of “BIRT America is Canada’s pants”. Both finalist teams presented amusing and (surprisingly) politically relevant arguments, providing great entertainment for the dinner.

The winners of Parliamentary Debate were:

Third place: York University

Second place: University of Toronto

First place: University of Saskatchewan

Congratulations to all of the winners! Thank you to Ryerson University for hosting a successful 33rd annual CEC, and all of our sponsors for their support and involvement. CEC 2019 will be hosted by the University of Waterloo next March.